Combining cheap engagement rings and unique engagement rings remains a challenge for most major engagement ring designers. In the last five decades we have witnessed a strong push towards styles that have become widely accepted as mainstream engagement rings. These include solitaire engagement rings, halo designs, three-stone (trilogy) engagement rings and side stone engagement rings. A simple search on Google for “unique engagement rings” and the review of the first few results reveals just how inundated the market has become with mainstream designs disguised as either cheap engagement rings or unique engagement rings, and sometimes both. So what constitutes a “cheap” engagement ring and what defines a “unique” engagement ring? For answers we reached out to our friends at Encore DT and Engagement Rings USA to gain an understanding as to how they define, position and combine cheap and unique engagement rings.
“A unique engagement ring must seize the moment”, says Boris E., President of Global Sourcing at Encore DT, “and if the ring elicits curiosity, as the designer you have accomplished your aesthetically driven objective”. The fact is that every person will define “unique” differently, but most people will tend to agree when they see a truly distinct, uncommon engagement ring that is not sold at their local or favorite online engagement ring store. Michael A., President of Operations at Engagement Rings USA added another comment, stating that “unique engagement rings will typically deviate, at least to some extent, from the widely known and accepted design standards. And even a mainstream design, such as a solitaire engagement ring, will offer non-traditional elements that will, as Boris often says, ‘seize the moment'”.
As examples, Encore DT and Engagement Rings USA offer us the above pictured unique engagement rings, where we witness the transformation of mainstream solitaire and three-stone trilogy engagement rings into heavily distinct, unique masterpieces of these otherwise unsophisticated designs.
Next we examine cheap engagement rings, how to define a cheap engagement ring and what sets apart cheap engagement rings from all others. “Cheap engagement rings are one of our most complex categories”, says Boris E., President of Global Sourcing at Encore DT, “because for every thousand people who visit our Cheap Engagement Rings product lineup, there are one thousand different expectations for us to fulfill”. Understanding cheap engagement rings is mainly a challenge because of people’s vastly different interpretations of the word “cheap”, and the different budget levels that make up the market which creates the demand for these engagement rings. “It’s almost like playing Blackjack”, says Michael A., President of Operations at Engagement Rings USA. “The ‘card’ that lands on our Cheap Engagement Rings category next and what their expectations will be, ultimately determine how we perform that hand”. One way to view cheap engagement rings is to gauge the price relative to each ring’s makeup.
Taking this a step further, transforming cheap engagement rings into unique engagement rings, thereby retaining both cheap and unique characteristics, remains a battle for almost every engagement ring store in the world. “We ultimately accomplish this fusion by offering distinct engagement rings with an appropriately competitive total diamond weight, while discounting the prices by 20-40% relative to market prices for comparable engagement rings”, says Michael A., President of Operations at Engagement Rings USA. He offers the following two examples, where cheap engagement rings were successfully combined with unique engagement rings. “Comparable designs would normally sell for 20-40% higher at competing engagement rings stores”, he says, “so when a customer calls and says, ‘wow, what an amazing deal’, we know we hit the jackpot”.
In the end, everyone wants the best engagement ring deals and the most unique and sophisticated engagement ring designs. How different engagement ring stores achieve this complex objective varies, but with the right proportions of cheap and unique you can ultimately get the best engagement ring bargains and a chance to wow your friends and family, at the same time.
